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The Little Figs

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Once upon a time there was a man. This man was not always the most patient guy around. It took him many years to gradually learn to be more patient. One weekend, after being married to his wife for 17 years, he had the ultimate test of his new-found patience.

His wife had bought him a brand-new snow blower for Christmas the prior year. Because there were no major snowstorms after Christmas, the brand-new snow blower sat shiny and new in the garage for 11 months.

Finally, a large snow storm came. The man and his wife were so excited to try out the new snow blower. They hurried home and put on their snow gear. They went out to the garage and admired the shiny new snow blower. It was definitely large enough to handle this major snow storm!

The man went to find the key to the snow blower. His wife was certain that she had left it on a small shelf in the garage, but it was not there. The man wasn't sure why his wife had even taken the key out of the snow blower in the first place, bu…

1. I saw Avatar for the first time last night. I told Matt, "Wow, that movie was a lot better than I expected." Truly, it was. Maybe my expectations had been set pretty low, but it was a really good flick.

2. In Stake Conference on Sunday, I looked over and Marcus had smuggled crocheting supplies into Aubree's bag. He was happily crocheting a hat with a loom. Yarn was swooped across the floor. Not sure if that is an appropriate church activity, but why not? If I let him color during church, why not crochet?

3. I was driving Aubree home from dance one night. In a completely incredulous way she said, "Mom, do you know that girls think Tyler is cute?" I couldn't help it and busted up at that. It was said like that thought had never occurred to her before.

4. Ah, my husband... he has done several things for me over the past few days that made me smile. One in particular was making sure the entire …

One of the best things Matt and I have started recently is individual dates with our kids. Two nights each month, we split up and take one of the kids out for a date of their choice. We have a budget of $20 for each couple. (Thank goodness, or those kids would be spending into oblivion!)

The first date night Matt took Caleb and I took Tyler. Caleb opted for dinner at Wendy's, renting a Red Box (he wanted to go to a movie, but they didn't have the budget for it), and picking up ice cream at Leatherby's to eat during the movie. They stayed under their $20 budget.

Tyler and I went to In-and-Out Burger and then to a movie (I had two movie passes for $5 each.). We had a couple of bucks left to buy a box of Skittles for the movie.

The next weekend was Aubree and Marc's turn. I took Aubree to Zupas for dinner (that ate most of our budget), and then she decided to go visit Grandma Julie and take her with us to Leatherby's for dessert. Luckily, Aubree had a $5 Leatherby'…

As a teenager, I remember talking with my Dad about how fun it would be to do a different job every month. We would imagine being a bus driver one month, a school teacher the next, and so on.

Anyone who knows me well, can tell you that I am a little ADD, and having a different job, or life experience, is my dream come true. My "jobs" have run the gamut from selling cemetery plots, to running an advertising agency, to being a planning commissioner, to being a public relations director, to selling Discovery Toys, to cooking on T.V., to doing mortgage loans. All of these while being a stay-at-home mom. (Not all at the same time, of course!)

Well, you can imagine how I jumped at the chance to be a tour director for a group of Boy Scouts from LA, in our nation's capitol!!

Random? Yes, a little. But I believe life is all about taking full advantage of experiences that life offers.

I was offered a job as a tour group leader in Washington D.C. for a week. I thought it would be …

Some people called him "Matt," others called him, "Matthew." Certain family members even called him, "Matty." He liked to run around and play...

And he especially loved sports...

He grew up and worked hard to become an Eagle Scout...
(Matt with his three sisters, Brenda, Alicia, and Sarah)

He even used to like mullets...

Did I mention that he loved sports??

He served an LDS mission for two years in South Africa...

Then he met a crazy-haired girl and fell in love... He married her and they lived happily ever after... Most of the time. Sometimes they got on each other's nerves, but that is another story for another day.

Since it is Matt's birthday, I wanted to give him a little shout-out in this post...

You'll never know how emotional your 6th grade promotion was for me. My heart swelled with pride, gratitude and love.

When you were in the hospital as a 2 year old, I remember wondering if you would ever make it through elementary school. We didn't know how long we would have you with us.

Then there were times that we wondered if you would have the mental capacity to be in a regular school, to be able to read like a normal child. We didn't know if you would ever re-learn how to walk again... to run and climb like a child should.

Your determination and motivation proved us wrong time and time again.

Although receiving awards for your good grades and citizenship were awesome and impressive, I think my most proud moment was when you received the National Physical Fitness award. I wanted to give you a standing ovation. I wanted to yell and cheer and tell all the parents around me how hard that was for you to accomplish. Instead I sat there quietly with tears…

We talked about working to keep our hearts from becoming hardened. During the lesson I asked Aubree to play "I am a Child of God" on her violin. I prefaced this with a story from her hospital days. After Aubree was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and had gone through her second brain surgery, she had lost the ability to walk or even sit up. She was 2, and would lay in her hospital bed and often sing, "I am a Child of God."

"I am a Child of God, and He has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do, to live with Him someday."

That song forever reminds me that sometimes we have trials to help us keep our hearts softened. It is our choice to eit…